Tetra Tech is a leading provider of consulting and engineering services worldwide, focusing on the areas of water, environment, infrastructure, resource management, energy, and international development. Since 2007, Tetra Tech has implemented U.S. technical assistance to support responsible and conflict free mineral supply chains, notably the flagship Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development (PRADD) project in Guinea, Liberia, the Central African Republic and Côte d’Ivoire. Tetra Tech also works in responsible artisanal gold supply chains in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Terah DeJong managed the PRADD II project in Côte d’Ivoire from 2013 to 2018 where he assisted the government become compliant with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) and get a U.N. embargo lifted in 2014. In the Central African Republic, DeJong has worked as a consultant focusing on environmental impacts of diamond mining, and also was the final Chief of Party of the PRADD project before closing in 2013 due to the Seleka take-over of the country. In 2015, DeJong participated in field diagnostics and technical discussions that resulted in the KP Operational Framework, which enabled the partial lifting of the diamond trade suspension in CAR.

DeJong is currently an independent consultant and the Technical Deputy for the new Artisanal Mining and Property Rights (AMPR) project funded by USAID and focused on supporting the gold and diamond supply chains in the Central African Republic. DeJong offers technical backstopping to the field program, while also managing the project’s global technical assistance component for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). DeJong is based in Abidjan, and is a citizen of the United States, India and Côte d’Ivoire.

Access to resources remains the predominant driver of both armament and conflict in the Central African Republic. All armed groups operating in CAR are engaged in predation on one or more economic sectors. Artisanal mining is highly militarized. Pastoralists pay on their way to markets or just to secure their safety. Roadblocks and illegal taxation are omnipresent. Predation is not only a key determinant of an armed group’s movements and activities, but provides essential sustenance to its rank and file. The extent to which any peace deal or strengthened Central African state authority can move the country beyond armed conflict is likely to be determined by how sustainably they deal with access to resources for both armed groups and civilians.